Third Impressions Are Lasting Impressions
by clicketykeys
Summary: Nadia meets a new arrival.


"Honestly, I don't see why we've got to go around collectin' refugees. I know we're the most secure facility in t'area, but that doesna mean we ought t' be playing mommy-dearest to every nitwit as wanders past," Julie grouched as she held her plate out to the man who stood behind the counter.

Nadia tried not to think too much about what exactly was in the watery stew that was ladled onto her hunk of bread. She preferred to think of the latter as 'extra-crusty' as opposed to 'stale.' With a quiet sigh, she shrugged back at her … friend? She wasn't sure how to categorize Julie, who was a good deal more vocal about her dissatisfaction than Nadia was comfortable with. "Well, it's better to bring 'em in here where they can be of some help, rather'n abandoning 'em to the Outside."

Technically, there were other settlements not too far away, but the official Council position was that there was New Canton, which was safe, and there was everywhere else, which wasn't. And while Nadia had some of the same frustrations as Julie voiced aloud, she wasn't sure it was entirely prudent to do so out in public. Not that she was paranoid or anything.

Just, you know. In case.

Julie gave a very unladylike snort. "Listenna you, spoutin' their propagander," she snarked. "You'll make a right lapdog yet."

Bristling, Nadia turned sharply on the other woman. "You take that back _right now_," she insisted, her jaw thrust forward, eyes snapping. "I'm no lapdog, an' I never will be, neither." Without waiting to hear the apology she knew would come spilling out, she headed outside into the clammy mid-day chill. While Nadia knew that Julie had a well-documented habit of letting whatever popped into her head come straight out her mouth, it didn't make it any easier to deal with what she said. In some ways, it was worse for being unintended.

"That was outta line," Julie said as she backed out of the door, holding her plate carefully in both hands. The food wasn't great, but one serving was all any of the regular folks got, so everyone had learned to be incredibly careful. "I shouldn't've said it, an' I'm sorry," she added.

Nadia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing her anger with the air. "I know I've got t'be careful what I say over the comms. An' maybe it's carried over some, I dunno. But… well… that bit makes sense, I think. I mean, at least in here, they aren't tryin' t'bite yer face off, y'know?" She saw Julie relax a bit, realizing she'd been forgiven – again – and felt a little guilty for getting mad at her in the first place. "Speakin' of new folks, aren't you up for a perimeter jog with one of the new runners? You know who it is yet?"

At that particular change of subject, Julie grinned broadly. "Yeah, one of t' new numbers. Seems we've got past forty with this batch. This one's thirty-eight – name's Lemuel Jones. An' if he'd just keep his mouth shut, I think I'll actually enjoy partnering with 'im."

Nadia rolled her eyes. If any of the new runners were going to learn that lesson, it wouldn't be from Julie.

* * *

Just before her shift began, Nadia was leaning against the door to the communications office. She heard Julie calling her and looked up. It took all the self-control she had to avoid letting her jaw drop. Approaching the office beside Julie was the most delicious-looking man she'd seen since before The Event. _No,_ Nadia decided, _scratch that. This is the yummiest guy I've **ever** seen – at least in person. _She smiled a greeting as they walked up.

"Sa yer Nadyeh?" And just like that, the spell was broken. "Juleh here sez she's arready told yeh 'bout meh folks lahkin' _Gulliver's Travels. _S'why they named me Lemyool. You kin jist call m'Lem, though." He extended a hand, his smile warm and open.

It hadn't been difficult to figure out what Julie had meant when she'd talked about Lem keeping his mouth shut. He was dressed normally enough (tee shirt, jeans, running shoes, although the beat-up kerchief that didn't quite keep his hair out of his eyes was something she was going to have to ask him about sometime). But his manner of speaking – Nadia wasn't sure if it was remotely fair to call it an accent – was so broad and exaggerated that he couldn't have seemed more backward if he'd been wearing a floppy straw hat and chewing on a toothpick.

But when she took his hand, his grip was strong and sure. Nadia found herself smiling back at him after all, and it took her a moment to remember that she ought to say something back. Something clever, ideally. Smooth.

Really, anything not completely cheesy would work. Unfortunately, that meant not mentioning his broad shoulders or his vivid blue eyes or his adorably scruffly blond hair.

_Or you could just stand here gaping at him like an idiot._

Nadia finally cleared her throat. "Ah – well, Lem, welcome to New Canton. I, uh, I hope you like it here." She realized she'd been shaking his hand longer than was remotely necessary and so Julie was grinning at _her_ now, and she let go rather abruptly. _Yep, real smooth there._

His grin broadened, and ... wait, was that a blush she saw? Lem reached back and shoved his hands into his hip pockets. "Well nah, I think I'm liable to lahk it here an arful lot," he replied softly.

And although the sun was still hidden behind the cover of heavy clouds that spanned the entire gray sky, somehow, Nadia suddenly felt quite a bit warmer._  
_

* * *

[AN: This was written for the Zombies, Run! exchange challenge. Pennygigdesigns, I hope you can forgive me for only addressing one section, but I *do* have something in mind for the other two! I did try to figure out a way to put all three elements together but I just couldn't make it work. I'm giving myself another month for SamnAlice and a month after that for the relistening one. Hope you enjoyed this!]


End file.
